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Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

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  The Building The theatre was originally a music hall dating back to 1888 before being twice renovated before reopening in 1895 as the New Lyric Opera House. The theatre was saved from closure and demolition in 1966, instead the auditorium was dismantled and reinstalled piece by piece in its current location before reopening in 1979. This picture shows the redeveloped box office and entrance, designed by Rick Mather Architects and opened around 2007. Work has continued to redevelop and the theatre was nominated for RICS Awards in 2016. The Photograph This was taken back in February 2024 but was only processed this week. I like buildings with a good mix of contrasting shapes, and this is certainly one of those with multiple angles and the prominent curved wall. My main aim when processing this picture was to emphasise the bold, standout sign but also showing the entrance and box office plus the side windows. From a technical point of view, I used a shift lens to ensure that all of ...
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Overlook Towers, Herndon VA

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  The Building Overlook Towers in Herndon VA is close to Washington Dulles Airport. It is a 9 storey office block with suites, including the US Headquarters of Airbus. The building was designed by Noritake Associates and was opened in 2007. The façade is composed of precast architectural panels and mirrored glass curtain walls.  The Photograph For the first time in over a year I needed to make a work trip. I always make a point of taking a camera and one or two lenses when I travel as you never know when you might see a photo opportunity.  This time I was visiting our US HQ. I had the Sony A7RII and Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Shift lens with me which I used to take this photograph. Clearly this photograph is all about the shape of the building and the many, many windows (464 individual panes, which all had their own selection). Once selected, I abstracted the windows using various gradients layered onto each other. Once I had decided how to handle the glass on this building I moved...
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Glasgow Science Centre Mall

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  The Building Designed by BDP Architects and opened in 2001, winning RIBA Award for Architecture 2002, Glasgow Institute of Architects Design Award 2001, Bentley Success Award 2003, Dynamic Place Award 2002 the overall Glasgow Science Centre scheme was the largest Millennium Commission-funded project in Scotland. This is the Mall, the largest of the three main titanium-clad buildings.   The Photograph Modern architecture tends to feature glass quite heavily. This example is no exception. I have developed a few different approaches to rendering the glass in images, sometimes I abstract the glass completely as it if is a solid surface and other times I use gradients to darken the glass to partially obscure what is behind it. In both approaches you end up treating the nearest glass wall as pretty much a solid wall.  Reviewing my pictures from this trip, I initially discounted this image because it seemed too simple a shape - due to my normal approaches to the glass wal...
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Former Chesterfield Magistrates Court

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  The Building Former Chesterfield Magistrates Court house built 1963-65, converted into residential accommodation comprising 30 luxury flats in 2022. Designed by Prof S Allen and Robert Keenlyside for Chesterfield Borough Council, altered in 1975. Reinforced concrete, with decorative stone cladding, and timber roofs clad with copper sheeting. Double fan shaped plan, three storeys. Original east entrance front has recessed ground floor with central double glazed doors now blocked with glazed side lights. Either side four windows with concrete louvres to the offices. Above eleven bays topped with gables, the three central bays have recessed windows to both floors. Either side the two storey courts have grey slate panels with side lights and set back grey! green slate cladding. West front has recessed ground floor with eleven windows each with concrete louvres. Above eleven gabled bays, the central three and outer tow with grey slate cladding and side lights with set back grey green ...
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Roger Stevens Lecture Hall, University of Leeds

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The Building The Roger Stevens Building was built in 1970 as part of the development of the Leeds University South Campus by the architects Chamberlin Powell and Bon. The CPB buildings at Leeds were constructed between 1964 and 1976. They are all recognisably by the same practice, although developments of its style can be seen in the later buildings, especially the Roger Stevens Building (1970).  The west elevation, facing Chancellors Court, has four stepped sections descending from right to left, divided by narrow, vertical, external, semi-circular ventilation shafts. In the bay between the third and fourth sections there is an external staircase projecting in semi-circular bays from the façade. The two left sections are supported on pilotis of diminishing height as the levels of the building descend, with a broad staircase descending from left to right within. The Photograph I took this back in summer 2023, as part of the University Open Day tour with my daughter. Brutalist archi...
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Trinity Long Room Hub, Dublin

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  The Building Opened in 2010 and designed by McCullough Mulvin Architects in Dublin, the Trinity Long Room Hub is located in the heart of Trinity College's historic campus in Dublin. The building serves as the Humanities Research building. Its tall rectilinear form is stone clad with a broken pattern of incised granite slabs and deeply inset vertical windows. It was shortlisted for several awards, including the 2011 RIBA Awards but was awarded Best Educational Building in the 2011 RIAI Awards. The Photograph This is a panoramic image taken using a Laowa 12nn f/2.8 lens mounted onto a Sony A7RII via a Laowa Magic Shift Convertor. The angular, stark structure appealed to me - though I actually assumed that it was built a lot earlier than 2010. I've tried to highlight the bold structure whilst also using sympathetic lighting to attract the eye, I chose to lighten the staircase at the front somewhat as I think this gives a good lead-in to the main building. See more of my work at ...
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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Building, Nottingham Science Park

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  The Building Opened in 2022 and designed by CPMG Architects, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Building is one of the newest buildings on the Science Park in Nottingham. The hub space contains a prominently positioned café, meeting rooms and outdoor seating located on the pedestrian route between the science park and the nearby tram stop. The hub space is celebrated visually with a double height glazed curtain wall under a large cantilever of office space which serves as a protective canopy. The façade is a rhythmic pattern of modules in a combination of full height glazed elements and high quality dark grey cladding panels with featured vertical seams, at car park level a complementary gold coloured open mesh screening system is used. The Photograph I'd arranged to meet a friend at the Science Park for a photo walk. It was a  dull and somewhat damp Sunday morning in December but flat diffused light works well for me as deep shadows and bright reflections can be very difficult ...
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